Process of preserving eggs.



No. 762,562. Y PTBNTED JUNE 14, 1904. W. H. STR'ICKLER.

PROCESS 0F PRBSERVING EGGS. APPLI/oATIoN FILED un. 19. 1903.

e z n i teoedx- 17u/e non'- Willc'awr/Jdtrz'ckler UNITED STATES Patented Jim@ 14, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE'.

PnooEss oF PnEsEnvlNG EGGS.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. '762,5622 dated June 14, 1904. Application led March 19, 1903, Serial No. 148,559. (No specimens.)

To all whom t may concern:

this specification. v

This invention relates to a novel processof preserving eggs; and the invention consists in thereby avoid the injurious effect of the air coming in contact with the meat of the egg,

the air-excluding medium thereafter adhering l' to the shell and effecting a permanent exclusion of the air from the interior of the egg.

In practicing m'y. process I provide means fororendering impervious to air the shellof the egg while it'still retains the animal heat ofthe fowl and while its contents is still expanded, whereby when the egg subsequently cools and the contents thereof contract air does not pass through the shell to the interior thereof, such as occurs upon the natural cooli ing pf an unprotected egg. I employ forthe air-excluding medium any suitable substance by which the'exterior of the egg-shell may be invested, the medium being preferably applied to the shell in a liquid state and of such nature that upon the cooling of the egg the external air-pressure forces. the substance into the pores of the egg-shell, whereby the shell becomes impervious tothe air and excludesl its entrance to the interior thereof.

Paraiiin-oil possesses the desired air-excluding7 qualities when applied in the manner hereinbefore mentioned, and I have used this substance with a high degree of success. Said air-excluding medium should be'applied to the egg before thelatter has lost anyI appreciable amount of its temperature in order to secure the best results and to this end should be applied to the egg-shell as soon as cable after the egg is laid.

A convenient mode of carrying out m'y novel process consists in placing beneath or adjacent to the nest of the fowl a receptacle containing an air-excluding medium in liquid state and providing the nest with means whereby the egg immediately after it is laid is submerged in the liquid air-excluding bath, in which bath the egg is allowed to cool. this purpose the nest may be provided in its bottom with an exit-opening for theeggs, Ylocated over the air-excluding bath-receptacle and toward which the bottom wall of the nest slants or converges, wherebythe newly-laid ggg immediately falls from the nest into said ath.

In the drawings I have shown a nest of this construction,A whereinpracti- Figure l is a transverse vertical section of" the nest and the associated agency for apply- For ing the air-excluding medium. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of said nest.

As shown in said drawings, A designates an open-topped box or inclosure,`which is divided by an irregular-shaped partition A into an upper or nest compartment A2 and a lower compartment A3. The partition A'. constitutes the bottom of the nest and is centrally depressed to give thereto the proper form for the nest-bottom. Said nest-bottom is provided at its lowest part, near the center thereof, with an opening a, through which the eggs may pass from the nest to the compartment A3 below said 'nest-bottom. Located below said opening a is an open-topped receptacle B, which ispartially filled with a liquid bath of air-excluding substance. The bath is therefore located in position to receive the eggs as they drop through the opening a from the nest, so that in the transmission of the egg from the nest to the bath no appreciable amount of heat is lost.- The receptacle B is- IOO dropping into said bath immediately vbecome submerged, so that as they subsequently become cooled no part of the shell is exposed to the air. Preferably the receptacle has the form of a sliding drawer and slides between parallel horizontal guides in the bottom of the compartment A3. One end of the drawer eX- tends through one side wall of the inclosure A and is provided with a knob or drawer-pull L, by which the drawer is withdrawn for the purpose of removing the eggs therefrom. The eggs are dropped into the bath while retaining the animal heat of the fowl, and as they become cool and the contents thereof con tract the air-excluding medium of the bath is forced into the pores of the shell, so as to close said pores against the subsequent passage of air therethrough to the interior of the egg. The air-excluding substance may or may not form an external coating or investment for the egg-shell. 1n either event thc .closing of the poresof the shell against the passage of air therethrough is the end'sought and the attainment of which produces the preservative eifect desired.

It is obvious that the apparatus for carrying out my novel process may be Widely varied, while retaining the essential features for eeetuating the necessary step of my process.

I claim as my inventioni l. The process of preserving eggs which consists in su bmerging the egg in a liquid, airexcluding medium immediately after it is laid and before it has lost any of the animal heat of the fowl and thereafter removing theegg from said medium.

2. The process of preserving eggs which consists in causing the egg to be passed by its gravity, when it is laid, directly'from the fowl to a body of liquid, air-excluding medium whereby it is submerged in said air-excluding medium before it has lost any of the animal heat of the fowl, and thereafter removing the egg from said medium.

1n testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afHX my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 17 th day of March, A. D.

WILLIAM H. STRlGKLER.' Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. HALL, GERTRUDE BRYCE. 

